Everyone knows that someone who drives a 2011 Porsche Carrera GTS with 408 horsepower will have a higher car insurance bill than someone who drives a 1997 Toyota Corolla with 100 horsepower. In most cases, the disparity in auto insurance rates between these radically different vehicles will average in the thousands... but why? Four factors account for the price difference among various body styles: age, cost to repair, risk, and size. Newer, pricier, faster, and larger vehicles all typically cost more to insure because of what they would cost to replace or repair, how likely they are to get into an accident, and how much damage they are likely to inflict in the event of an accident. Read on to find out how and why vehicle body type is so strongly correlated to insurance rates.

Body Styles & Average Auto Insurance Price

Before we discuss the other mitigating factors, let's take a look at the various body style classifications and their average associated annual insurance payment.

(NOTE: These are average annual prices based solely on body classification. Vehicle age, driver history, and several other factors may impact your rate to a high degree.)

Additional Body Style Attributes and Auto Insurance Premiums

Below, we've summarized the four traits of different body types that have the most substantial impact on car insurance rates. The factors are why the rates listed above may vary so highly between body style classification.

Model year: Newer cars cost more to repair or replace when they are damaged in an accident, which is why drivers with late-model vehicles pay more on average for their auto policies. Remember this is only true if you include collision and comprehensive in your coverage.

Cost: One of the reasons why trucks, SUVs, and sports cars usually cost more to insure is that they tend to cost more initially than a garden-variety sedan, for instance. The more you pay for a vehicle up front, the more you will pay for auto insurance because, once again, pricier vehicles cost insurers more to repair or replace.

Power and speed: Powerful trucks and fast sports cars typically have engines with massive amounts of horsepower, and insurers have learned that most drivers tend to have difficulty resisting the urge to utilize this power and/or speed. Insurers have discovered that the amount of horsepower a vehicle has directly correlates with riskier driver behavior. As a result, drivers of vehicle types like high-powered sports cars are significantly more likely to be involved in an accident. Consequently, drivers almost always pay more for sports car insurance and truck insurance.

Size: In the case of SUVs, trucks, and other large automobiles, these vehicles are far more likely to inflict serious (read: costly) damage in the event of a collision because of their size. That means insurers will have to shell out larger settlements when the other parties file claims against the at-fault insured driver. Generally speaking, then, the bigger the body style of your vehicle, the higher your car insurance rates will be. However, there are a few exceptions—minivan and SUV body styles tend not to elevate insurance rates substantially because even though they are larger vehicles, they tend to be lighter and generally less likely to get into an accident in the first place than other large vehicles.